Posted in Movie TrailersComments Off on The Three Musketeers – It was an off day

Posted on 30 September 2011

Every one likes a good mountain climbing movie. They're good to live vicariously through. I always think I want to take up the sport, and then I rent "North Face" and see someone hit a patch of pebbles and slide to their death, and it reminds me never, ever to take up mountain climbing.

I imagine Doug Liman's "Everest" will inspire similar, bipolar emotions of athletic desire and agoraphobia. The title is slightly misleading, as "Everest" will actually center on George Mallory, and his three attempts to scale the vicious mountain in the 1920s. Controversy still rages as to whether or not he made it to the top on his third attempt from which he never returned. His body was found in 1999, but failed to clear up the mystery.

"Everest" is taking Jeffery Archer's "Paths of Glory" as its source. "Glory" is a fictionalized account of Mallory's climb instead of a truly biographical one, so I think it's safe to say we'll be looking at a highly romantic and action-packed version of the climb. There will undoubtedly be a lot of emphasis on how the climb was pushed and funded in order to lift British morale and fuel patriotism. Even the Royal Family got involved. But hey, that's history, and sometimes it does get weirdly breathless and perfectly exploitable by Hollywood.

Sheldon Turner has penned the script, and the film is getting such a push at Sony that it may end up being Liman's next film. He's an avid climber himself, so I think we can expect more authenticity and less "Cliffhanger."

Posted in HollywoodComments Off on Doug Liman Climbing ‘Everest’ For Sony

Posted on 30 September 2011

There's no humor like Martin McDonagh's black humor. However, his scripts aren't exactly the kind of thing that a major studio wants to pick up and distribute. Luckily, CBS Films is biting the bullet and will co-finance and distribute his next feature film, "Seven Psychopaths."

"Seven Psychopaths" centers on a screenwrtier (Farrell, who worked with McDonagh on "In Bruges") who is struggling to complete his latest script. He gets drawn into the petty criminal escapades of his friends (Rockwell and Walken), who have decided to kidnap a gangster's beloved Shih Tzu. The ensuing action and drama gives the screenwriter plenty of fodder for his work, but he may not stay alive long enough to write it all down.

There is so much good in this whole project that you would be forgiven for clapping your hands after reading it. The only problem is that the distribution isn't as vast as it should be. CBS Films is ever growing, and seems to pick up terrific little projects that need homes, but it will still be hard to see in your average midwestern town.

Oh well. A McDonagh film featuring Walken kidnapping a dog exists. For some of us, that will be enough for awhile. We can just watch "In Bruges" or read "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" to pass the time until it shows up in our region.

Posted on 30 September 2011

Here's your daily dose of casting bits, readers. Eat them all up, they're good for you. They make your eyeballs big and strong, and that's a trait the opposite sex appreciates. I promise.

Now, onto the news...

Jai Courtney, who you might remember best as Spartacus’ big blond friend in “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” has joined Christopher McQuarrie’s “One Shot.” He’ll be playing a sniper who aims (pun not intended) to stop Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher. It’s a big break for Courtney – and if you want to feel a bit sniffly, Deadline says that the late Andy Whitfield is to thank, as he took Courtney under his wing and found him a manager.

·Woody Harrelson has joined the cast of “Now You See Me,” an action-thriller that centers on a group of bank-robbing magicians called the Four Horsemen. Harrelson plays the group’s hypnotist, Merritt Osbourne, who joins the gang after “a bloody incident overseas.” The film also stars Jesse Eisenberg (the lead magician), Mark Ruffalo as an FBI Agent, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman as a magician-turned-myth buster, and Isla Fisher as “a master technician.” It’s a surprisingly good cast for what reads like a silly concept, so this might be quite a fun ride.

·Ellen Page is in final talks to join “The East,” the indie eco-terrorism thriller that stars Brit Marling and Alexander Skarsgard. Skarsgard plays the leader of a eco-terrorist group, and Marling is a law enforcement agent who infiltrates the organization. Page plays Skarsgard’s ex and fellow eco-terrorist, who bristles when Skarsgard and Marling fall for one another. Who wants to bet she’s the really bad egg of the tale?

·Dominic Cooper may take the lead in Joel Silver’s “Motor City,” which is being directed by Albert Hughes. It’s your typical revenge story about a man being released from prison and tracking down those who put him there. I keep hearing the script is Sergio Leone sparse, and that the revenge-seeking hero has only a handful of lines in the entire film. That sounds quite classic and badass, and a good fit for Cooper.

·Steve Carell is going for straight-up drama with his next role as the multimillionare and convicted murderer, John DuPont. Carell has taken the lead in Bennet Miller’s “Foxcatcher” which tells the strange and sad tale of DuPont (of THE DuPonts), who shot and killed Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz. DuPont was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and had killed Schultz because he believed him to be part of an international conspiracy to kill him. “Foxcatcher” will apparently be a biopic about DuPont, who led a fairly colorful life of amateur science, philanthropy, sports before the shooting. He died in prison last year. As for Carell, well, that’s one way to shake the goofy comedic image.

·Tom Everett Scott has joined Billy Crystal, Bette Midler and Marisa Tomei in “Us & Them.” The comedy is all about the clash between parenting styles new and old. Tomei and Scott play the Modern Parents who have raised their children as special snowflakes, as opposed to Crystal and Midler’s Old School. When the grandkids are left alone with the grandparents, chaos ensues.